Chichi in Space
by Tie-dyed Trickster
Summary: Stowing away on a supply vessel to go and join an interplanetary Resistance together seemed like such a good idea in theory. In practice… it's a little less glamorous than previously imagined. Part 30 of the Geta!verse
1. Chapter 1

_Set two years after Raditz and Kakarrot's arrival on Earth, a bit more than a year after_ _ **Champion**_ _._

 _Kakarrot has, amongst other things, trained with Celipa off and on whenever she visited Earth, and she's taught him how to use his telepathy as a weapon, the same as she does, since they're both very gifted in that area. Also, when I talk about saiyans with red skin, I do not mean it in the way some humans are said to have 'red' skin, I mean RED. In my world, saiyans come in shades of red, grey, and tan, with variations of brightness and darkness from saiyan to saiyan. They all have black and eyes unless something is wrong with them, like Celipa, or they're not pure saiyan. Please also keep in mind that saiyans are more violent and physical than humans – certain things that would be intolerable to us are simply part of their culture, such as a certain level of casual violence towards one another._

Chichi couldn't help swallowing slightly as Bardock presented her and Kakarrot to General Leke. She still wasn't entirely sure how the saiyan naming system worked, so she'd been a little surprised to see that the general was a woman, not that she should have been – saiyans, it seemed, tended to look at strength first and everything else last – and General Leke was an imposing figure. Six foot ten, greyish skin, short hair that spiked in an arc over her right eye and was held back slightly by her strip of resistance red cloth, a powerful build, and with the handsome features that saiyan women seemed more prone to than Chichi's own more delicate build. Chichi realized she was fiddling with the edge of her new armor and forced her hands to still, silently thanking Kami that Kakarrot had insisted they both train before they did this as the grey woman looked her over critically.

"Hmf. Scrawny little thing, power seems just barely acceptable, but I suppose you can handle yourself in a fight or else Bardock wouldn't have brought you." She folded her arms and glanced between the two teenagers, then turned back to Bardock. "All right, I'll take them. Kakarrot, you'll be assigned to Onigrin's squad. Human, you'll be on mine."

"Can't we be on the same squad?" Kakarrot asked hopefully and the general narrowed her eyes.

"No – we don't have any squads with openings for two and even if we did I prefer to keep mates, even prospective ones, on separate squads." She turned back to Bardock, "Will that be all, Commander?"

The scarred saiyan nodded, then clapped both teenagers on the shoulders. "Try and stay alive, brats – I'll be pissed if you don't." And then he was gone and they were being shown to their room and introduced to the rest of the saiyans onboard. Including General Leke there were seventeen already living on the ship – eighteen now with Kakarrot, and nineteen total counting Chichi, the only alien onboard. Kakarrot's new squad greeted him with punches and the general roughness that Chichi was beginning to understand was just a part of daily saiyan interaction. He gave Chichi a quick wave before returning to chatting happily as General Leke led her off down a side corridor of the ship to meet the member of her own team she'd be working the most directly with.

"You'll be paired with him during missions," the saiyan woman informed her as they walked, "He specializes in sabotage, so he isn't usually in the larger brawls – hell, half the brawls our squad starts are covers for him to get his work done. You'll act as lookout and guard for him."

Chichi nodded, rubbing her arms a little as they walked and wishing she had on a shirt with long sleeves. He was dressed in black and violet saiyan armor with full sets of panels, though the shoulder ones curved to fit closely rather than flaring out. Her small armor was blue and consisted of long pants and a sleeveless top with a high collar. Gauntlets and boots to match the armor completed the outfit, and her strip of Resistance red cloth was currently pulling her hair back. It all felt strange, the textures smoother than she was used to (though, she did have to admit… for being designed to stretch to fit, the chestplate was surprisingly comfortable. And supportive. She might have to look into getting a plainer one for everyday wear if this proved to be true long-term as well as short term…)

She snapped out of her thoughts as Leke halted in front of a door indented into the wall and hit a button to open it without knocking, "Oi, gerine-brains, pay attention, you've got a new partner!"

Chichi gaped as the man turned to face them. He wore loose grey pants tucked into black and indigo boots, with a length of indigo cloth draped around his hips, held in place by a sash of the appropriate shade of red, and a form-fitting black tank top, an outfit similar to something one of Kakarrot's own new squadmates had been sporting, albeit the other saiyan had had a chestplate on as well. The man before her also wore what looked like a red scouter that had been modified to cover both eyes instead of one.

What surprised her, however, wasn't his clothes but the fact that he looked almost exactly like Commander Bardock – his skin was much darker, his hair a little wilder, an, curiously, he was missing his right eyebrow, but other than that they could have been twins. He straightened with as smirk as they entered the room.

"A new partner? Oh General, you shouldn't have – I always knew you liked me best."

Leke growled at him. "You have a mate already, Turles, quit flirting with the entire gods-damned ship! And put your chestplate on – we're at war!" the general bristled at the irreverent shrug this earned her, turning to the human at her side with a huff. "This is Mao Chichi, she'll be working with you, as I said. Chichi, this is Turles. He's an expert on sabotage and explosives. He's also a shameless flirt and absolutely insane. Good luck."

And before Chichi could respond, the general had left. Swallowing, she turned back to see the dark saiyan smirking at her.

"Well, go ahead, say it, you know you want to," he mocked, "Everyone does."

Chichi raised her chin. His ki reserves were larger than hers, but damned if she was going to let him intimidate her. "You look like Commander Bardock."

"We share an extremely lusty great grandfather."

He was trying to get a rise out of her. Chichi narrowed her eyes. "You lose a bet or something?"

His eyebrow raised. "Not recently. Why do you ask?"

She gestured at his right eyebrow, or lack thereof, and allowed herself to feel smug when he scowled at her.

"I had an accident with some unstable chemicals and am currently waiting for it to grow back. In the meantime I am keeping the area safe," Turles tapped his odd scouter, "You'll likely be getting a similar one, since we'll be working together." He grinned suddenly, "You seem spunky enough, I believe you'll do nicely. I think I'll call you 'Lackey.'"

Chichi growled. "Ya will not! I'm Mao Chichi, the Ox Princess, and I'm nobody's _lackey_!"

He gave her an amused look, then turned back to his worktable while still talking. "What, you don't like it? How about I call you 'Jewel,' then, is that preferable?"

She huffed. "If you insist on calling me something other than my real name, then I suppose that would be acceptable."

She had a feeling she'd made a mistake somehow the instant the words left her mouth, but she _knew_ she had when Turles froze for a moment, then straightened and slowly turned to face her, grinning like he'd just been handed the best gift in the universe on a golden platter. "Really? Jewel it is, then!" he laughed, "This _is_ turning out to be a good day! Oh, and Frieza Day's coming up! And me with a brand new partner to celebrate it with!"

Deciding to shelve the 'jewel' topic for later, Chichi addressed this new topic instead. "What's Frieza Day?"

"Why, only the best day in the whole year," Turles gave a toothy grin, "The day I look forward to and plan for constantly!"

"What's so special about it?"

"It's the day Frieza destroyed Vegetasei."

She gaped at him. Dear kami, he really was insane, "How the _hell_ is that a good thing?!"

Turles's smirk took on a dark edge, "Because every Frieza Day, to commemorate the event, we destroy something of his." He beckoned to her to join him at his workbench, "I was just putting some final touches on the current plan, but your presence changes things. Come here and we'll see how we can fit you in."

OoOoOoOoO

That evening Chichi found out that 'Frieza Day' was not an actual holiday, but rather Turles's own personal term for days he had missions because, as people kept reminding her, he was insane. She also found out that 'jewel' had a rather different meaning when applied to a living being rather than a lump of crystalline rock in saiyan culture. Apparently it was an old term for saiyans who were considered beautiful, but had no fighting capabilities and a very low power level. Applied to a saiyan who met those qualifications, it was positive, a denotation of value of a different sort than usual.

Applied to someone with a decent power level and fighting skills – like Chichi for example – it was an insult.

"Basically, it's implying that you're a shitty fighter with no value but your looks," Crumbar, a short, reddish saiyan with longer spikey hair, explained. He was one of Kakarrot's new squad mates and had been chatting with the younger male when Chichi joined them.

The Ox Princess stared blankly into space for a moment. "I'm gonna rip his tail off. I'm gonna rip his _fucking_ tail _right off his ass_."

Crumbar snorted derisively. "As if you could – he's too strong for you, human."

"And I'm also an _excellent_ fighter."

Chichi turned to glare at Turles, who was smirking at her, arms folded. She growled at him and he tisked.

"Now now, Jewel, is that any way to treat your partner."

"You son of a bitch-" she snarled, going for a swing at him.

She was yanked to a stop by a hand clapped over her mouth, ceasing her forward motion. "Ah-ah-ah, not in the meal room. I'll be happy to fight you any other time you want, though – I need to know your fighting style if I'm going to strategize around it properly, anyway." He released her and stepped back, smirking, "And if you want my tail so badly, by all means, just try and get it." And he turned and sauntered over to a red-skinned saiyan woman who tilted her head to the side to let him nuzzle her neck without pausing in her conversation. After a moment, though, she'd apparently had enough, because she reached up and, still without looking at him, grabbed Turles by the head and mashed his face into the table, holding it there while he flailed, not really paying attention or pausing in her chat with a smooth-haired male.

"Who's that?" Chichi asked. Possibly this woman could be an ally…?

"That's Nippatu. And, before you get any ideas, Turles is her mate." Crumbar snorted, "Crazy, the pair of them."

"Everyone around here except General Leke seems a little crazy if you ask me," Chichi grumbled, annoyed at her lost opportunity.

A tan hand slammed down onto the table next to her and a broad saiyan man smirked down at her nastily. "The only crazy ones on this ship are Turles, you, and the Commander's brat."

"Me?" Kakarrot looked up from his plate, blinking, "What did I do?"

"You're Commander Bardock's youngest, aren't you?"

"Well yeah," Kakarrot scratched his neck and looked away, "What does that have to do with-"

"Then you got raised soft."

Kakarrot froze, turning to face the other male again. "What did you say."

"You got raised soft," the other man smirked at him and around them conversation quieted as the surrounding saiyans turned to watch, "By that weakling brother of yours. I hear he doesn't even _fight_ any-"

He stopped then. He had to because he was holding his head and screaming. The room went silent and remained so, even when the screaming stopped a moment later as Kakarrot hopped lightly over the table to stand over the other saiyan, lifting him by the front of his armor.

"My brother," he said, tone like ice, "Raised me when it would have been easier to throw me away. I was born with a low power level, it wouldn't have been hard, it wouldn't even have been _wrong_ back then, and it would have made his life easier. But he protected me anyway, and trained me. He evaded Frieza's forces for fourteen years on his own, even while he was going through his growth spurts, while they were actively hunting us, and he's a better saiyan than you'll ever be." Flinging the man down, he looked up and addressed the room now. "I am Kakarrot, son of Bardock and Gine! I have trained with Sei Celipa, I have fought with Broly! My power level is near six digits, and I haven't gone through my second spurt yet," he grinned, cold and confident, "So go ahead, make me angry – I'm planning to follow in my father's footsteps, anyway." And he turned and strode out of the room, tail swinging in challenge behind him.

A short while later Chichi got up and returned to the room they would be sharing. Kakarrot was already there, sitting on his bed in his brown small armor, staring at the wall. He looked up at her as she came in. "Hey, Chi."

"Hey, Carrot," she sat down on the bed beside him and leaned on his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "Dad warned me I'd probably have to do something like that at some point, since I've been on the run and training on Earth and everything, but I didn't think it would be on our first night here." He leaned his head against hers. "General Leke came by."

"You in trouble?" she began to finger-comb his hair, and he hummed happily before it turned into a light purr.

"Not really. She just said not to use mental attacks on other saiyans again unless she gives the okay. How about you? Want me to beat up Turles for you?"

"No," she stopped playing with his hair and ignored his pout at that, "I'm gonna deal with him on my own. Can't have people thinkin' I can't handle myself." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, rolling her eyes when he made a face. "Still gross?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I really don't think that's going to change," he admitted, though his tone was regretful.

She patted his hand and got up to go to her bed, "At least I know yer intentions are pure."

OoOoOoOoO

Kakarrot settled into ship life fairly smoothly. Even Bagitzu, the man who had given him grief the first evening, backed off a certain amount, though there was no love lost between the two. The young saiyan had made his impression on the ship, however, and been accepted as a fellow warrior.

Chichi had yet to make her mark. Her time was spent mostly sparring and studying with Turles, who continued to call her 'Jewel,' taking what seemed a malicious glee in her frustration. He wore black and indigo armor over the short, swimsuit-like bottoms that everyone in the ship except Chichi seemed to consider perfectly acceptable public wear, at least when he bothered to _wear_ armor (as opposed to the more casual clothes she'd first found him in), and their first sparring session had ended up with Chichi going to the medical wing with a badly sprained wrist. She had numerous bruises as well, the biggest one being to her pride, because halfway through the match Turles had removed his chestplate, proclaiming he didn't need it since she couldn't hit him anyway (and thank kami he'd been wearing a sleeveless small armor shirt beneath it or else she'd have had to deal with distraction on top of everything else). The part that really stung was that he'd been right. She was good, but he was stronger, and better.

He mocked her. He belittled her. He outright insulted her.

And, on their first mission together, Chichi was pretty sure it saved her life.

She'd been with the Resistance for about two weeks at that point, as far as she could tell – she'd slept fourteen times, anyway (time was tricky in space). The mission was labelled 'routine' afterwards, but to Chichi it had been terrifying, and exhilarating. General Leke and three others of their squad had gone to raid supplies on one of Frieza's military space stations and cause a diversion while Chichi and Turles slipped over to the ship bay. The dark-skinned saiyan had set about rearranging bits of engines and adding drops of chemicals to fuel tanks, and Chichi had kept watch. It went smoothly, and it wasn't until they were going to deliver Turles's 'Frieza Day present' to the station's engine that they ran into a patrol.

The aliens were purple-green, amphibious-looking, and favoured an attack involving a kick that used flight to change angle and momentum mid-flight, a move that had felt… oddly familiar. Chichi hadn't had time to think about it right then – they'd deposited Turles's bomb in the engine, and Chichi had activated her new scouter (a blue one that covered both eyes, like Turles's) and reported back to Leke as her partner cackled and they ran. It wasn't until that night, leaning against Kakarrot while he held her and shivering over what she'd helped to do, that it suddenly came to her where she'd seen that attack before. Turles had been using it on her for most of their sessions. It was a tricky move to predict, and she'd been mercilessly battered at first. By the time of the mission, though… blocking it has almost been instinctive. The big difference was, Turles didn't have four-inch claws on his feet. The blow from him had hurt. The same blow from the aliens would have killed.

She'd stared at the ceiling a long time that night, Kakarrot wrapped around her like a friendly octopus (while not really interested in kissing or sex yet, cuddling was another matter entirely, and she hadn't felt like sleeping alone). Had Turles done it on purpose? But- he hadn't known they'd encounter those specific aliens.

Had he?

It didn't matter – he was still a jerk, and he still insisted on calling her 'Jewel,' even after she'd shown that she could handle her own in a fight. It left her more determined than ever to beat him, but it was looking like that would day would be a long time in coming. She could still barely lay a hand on him during their spars and, no matter how she trained on her own, no matter how she worked with her ki to increase it, she wasn't saiyan and simply didn't gain strength at the rate they did. She needed something else, a way to close the gap.

Two months after her first mission, she found it.

And it wasn't what she'd been expecting at all.

OoOoOoOoO

 _Just to be clear, Turles is NOT acting towards Chichi like this because she's female – he's doing this because she's HUMAN, or, rather, not saiyan. Saiyans, in my head, were a pretty speciest culture for a long time, and while they're getting better, a history like that doesn't vanish over night, and there's a lot of inherent 'saiyans are superior, everyone else is inferior' thought process going on. Turles has his own motivations for acting as he does, and sexism isn't one of them._

 _Also, Turles is a shit. He just is. It's canon. Also, if you're wondering exactly what his casual clothes look like, picture Broly's canon outfit with a high-collared tank-top, a sash instead of a metal belt, and a palette change. Because I like the general style of that outfit, dangit._


	2. Chapter 2

_It didn't matter – he was still a jerk, and he still insisted on calling her 'Jewel,' even after she'd shown that she could handle her own in a fight. It left her more determined than ever to beat him, but it was looking like that would day would be a long time in coming. She could still barely lay a hand on him during their spars and, no matter how she trained on her own, no matter how she worked with her ki to increase it, she wasn't saiyan and simply didn't gain strength at the rate they did. She needed something else, a way to close the gap._

 _Two months after her first mission, she found it._

 _And it wasn't what she'd been expecting at all._

The ship was celebrating the return of another squad after a successful mission and among the bounty were several crates of alcohol. Chichi hadn't seen any alcohol consumption on the ship until this point and had assumed it wasn't kept onboard so the crew could keep their heads clear and maintain discipline. This turned out not to be the case. Alcohol was not stored on the ship because it got drunk shortly after bring brought on – that is, right after the ship had been hidden and cloaking devices activated in a display of the combination of hardened discipline and blatant disregard for authority or propriety that Chichi was beginning to recognize as the classical saiyan mindset.

"It's strong stuff, too," a lanky fellow called Onigrin announced cheerfully as he plunked a case down on a table in the meal hall where everyone had gathered, "Kanjan nectar!"

"We're actually stopping the ship and hiding out to get drunk?!" Chichi half asked half demanded in shock.

"No, Jewel, _some of us_ are getting drunk," Turles smirked at her, coming around to grab a bottle, "Others of us can hold our drink."

She scowled at him, "I can hold my drink jus' fine, thanks all the same!"

"Suuuuuure~ you can," he purred, moving back to let others get at the cases.

Huffing, Chichi grabbed her own bottle, about the same size as an Earthly beer bottle but with a slightly different shape, and stomped over to Kakarrot. She wasn't much of a drinker, but damn if she was letting a challenge like that go unanswered! Besides, she shot whiskey at home from time to time, she could handle this space brew! Whatever it was! Yanking out the stopper, she took a pull and nearly choked. _**Kami**_ \- This stuff was- it was-

It was really _weak_. Seriously, she'd been braced for the burn of hard alcohol, like the couple of times she'd tried vodka, and the complete underwhelm-ment of the situation left her sputtering.

"Told you," Turled saluted her mockingly from a short way away with his own bottle, "It's strong stuff – probably too hard for your little jewel stomach to handle."

She almost laughed at him, but an idea snapped into place in that instant; she could use this to her advantage. So instead of mocking, she glared. "I wasn' ready fer it! Now I am, and I bet I can drink more'n you and _still_ mop the floor with yer fuzzy ass after!"

"Oh please, you can't do that sober," he snickered.

Chichi narrowed her eyes and smirked. "What, scared to try me?"

There was a scattering of laughter from the surrounding saiyans at that, and Turles frowned. "Like hell I am!"

"Then prove it!" she stood and stomped over to him.

He rose slightly, then glanced at the crate of Kanjan nectar, made a frustrated noise, and sat back down with poor grace, "We don't have enough alcohol."

There came a chorus of several saiyans at that to the tune that they didn't mind donating their share of the booze to the contest if they got a decent show out of it.

Which was how Chichi ended up sitting across from Turles, each with three bottles of Kanjan nectar in front of them, including the ones they'd already had (because there really wasn't that much of the stuff), preparing to drink and then fight. Chichi glanced at the faces surrounding her, some already flushed from their rinks, then turned back to Turles. "I win, no more'a this 'Jewel' business, got it?!"

"My dear lackey, if you win this, I'll call you princess," Turles smirked, toasting her with his first bottle.

They drank.

The hardest bit, for Chichi at least, was making it _look_ like she was having a hard time. At the end of it she felt slightly buzzed. Turles, in contrast, looked distinctly flushed.

"Yer still awake, impressive," he wobbled a bit as he stood, and Chichi crowed inside when he did.

"Jus' y' wai **t** ," she purposefully slurred at him, "I'mma make y' _scream_."

He leered at her and moved to an open space the onlookers had cleared for them. "Le's see if y' can _stand_ first, Jewl."

Staggering to her feet, the young woman made sure to bump into as many tables, chairs, and saiyans as she could without making it look like she was aiming for them and then stood, swaying slightly in an _extremely_ sloppy stance across from the dark saiyan, who smirked somewhat blearily at her.

"Last chance to back out, Jewl. I'd hate to have to break my own teammate like this, but I will if you press me."

"Com' a' me if yer hard 'nough!" she growled.

The widening of his smirk was her only warning before he flashed across the space at her. At the last moment Chichi 'lost her balance,' one leg trailing behind her to tangle in Turles's own and send him crashing to the ground, unable to respond in time due to his alcohol-dimmed reflexes. Chichi staggered into another sloppy stance, glaring at her opponent through half-lidded eyes.

"C'mon, thought y' said w'were startin'!" she slurred.

Turles picked himself up and smirked. "You got lucky once, Jewl – it won' happen twice."

As it turned out, Turles was right – it didn't happen twice. It was a lot more than that. Chichi ducked and wove and jabbed and swore to herself that, the first chance she got to tell him, she was going to take back every complaint she'd ever made to her father about him teaching her the Drunken fist style. Turles wasn't smirking anymore; he was bruised and glaring.

"Enough playin' games, Jewl," he growled, "Fight me properly!"

Chichi blinked as if surprised. "Ya wanna figh' fer _real_? Okay," her eyes narrowed and her stance snapped to flawless as she dropped her act, "Let's dance, Turles." She flashed forward to land a solid hit to him while he was still gaping at her and he grunted – served him right for not bothering to wear his armor. Then it was on. Turles was a skilled fighter and very strong compared to Chichi, but his mind and reflexes were dulled by alcohol. Which was why she was able to get behind him to grab-

"Won' work, Jewl," Turles smirked, looking over his shoulder at her and the grip she had on his tail, "Squeeze all ya like, trained it _good_."

"Who said anythin' 'bout squeezin'?" Chichi shot back. Turles's brows furled in confusion as she secured her grip, braced one foot on his ass- and _yanked_.

Turles yelped in pain, dropping to his knees. Chichi maintained her grip as he fell, leaning then staggering backwards as there was a snapping sound and Turles _yowled_. Chichi stared at him in shock, then at the tail she still held in her hand. The tail which was no longer attached to Turles. She… hadn't meant to do that. Sure, she'd _said_ she would, but she hadn't actually _intended_ -

She looked up to find Turles staring over his shoulder at her, stunned. The circle of faces surrounding them wore similar expressions, and it struck her that she'd just torn off a saiyan's tail on a ship full of saiyans, and that it was very possible that she was about to die very, very messily, and there was only one thing to do in this situation.

Ante up.

Forcing her face into a sneer she strode over to Turles and threw the tail on the ground in front of him before looking up to face the group, doing her best to radiate cold pride. "I am Mao Chichi, the Ox Princess, and I am _**nobody's**_ jewel!"

The she walked slowly out of the room, the circle of onlookers parting to let her through. A few minutes later, Kakarrot found her sitting on her bed, staring at the wall, white-faced and shaking a bit at the adrenaline still coursing through her veins. She looked up as he came in.

"They still plannin' how t' kill me or somethin'?"

"Nope. They're giving Turles hell for letting you get him like that, though," he sat down next to her, arm around her shoulders, tail around her waist, pulling her close, "And I think they're impressed at how well you could fight after drinking so much."

"Wasn't tough – I've drunk soft cider that's been left sit in the cool store a few weeks too long that was harder 'n that juice." She leaned on him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "You really think they're gonna let me live?"

"Yup – and they'd have to go through me if they weren't!"

She chuckled at his declaration, then wriggled away so she could pull off her chest plate. Poking Kakarrot in the arm, she gestured at his own armor. "Off."

He raised an eyebrow but complied as she went to get something from her bag. She was feeling tingly from alcohol and adrenaline, and was desperately in the mood for some physical contact. On the down side, they had awhile still before Kakarrot's hormones finished kicking in. On the plus side, sex was not the only way to be intimate. Kakarrot's eyes lit up as she presented him the wide-toothed comb. "My hair's prolly all messed up from the fight – comb it out for me?"

Kakarrot didn't purr like his brother did - when Raditz got going, you had to raise your voice to be heard over it. Kakarrot, in contrast, was quieter and lighter in tone, a pleasant rumble that somehow always found its way to the marrow of Chichi's bones and relaxed her from the inside out. Now it soothed the tension from her as her future husband/mate combed/groomed her hair for her, following her into her dreams, soft and reassuring, blurring the line between awake and asleep so that she passed it without noticing.

OoOoOoOoO

She didn't see Turles in the meal hall the next morning when she got up – he was waiting for her in his workshop in his usual attire, loose pants, that length of indigo cloth, and of course the red sash he wore with everything, though it was tied less neatly than usual. He was also wearing the slightly tender look of the hungover, though his gaze was clear enough when it met hers. "Hey there."

"Hey." She watched him warily, uncertain how to react.

"You forgot something last night," he said mildly, tossing an object at her. She caught it instinctively, then dropped it with a minor shriek when she realized it was his severed tail. He laughed at her. "You should hold onto that more carefully, you know, it's quite a prize – not many can claim they've managed to take the tail of a living saiyan and survived. And many have tried, especially with the bounty Frieza has on them."

Chichi gulped, looking from the tail to its previous owner. "You… aren't mad?"

Turles cocked his head to the side, smirking. "Why would I be mad? I've been goading you to figure out a way to beat me since we met. Though, I will admit, you did it faster than I thought you would. And I didn't expect you to get my tail."

Chichi gaped at him. "You were waiting- you _expected_ me to- _**why**_?!"

He returned her gaze levelly. "Tell me this: when you were in the meal room just now, how many invitations to spar did you get?"

"Um, four." Chichi had been surprised at that, actually – she'd only sparred with Turles, Kakarrot, and, once, General Leke up until now. And the reception she'd received in the meal room had been a surprise; the saiyans had been rougher with her than they previously had, but, at the same time, they'd seemed friendlier as well. She hadn't realized until just then how much they were holding her at arm's length. Turles, however, was nodding to himself.

"Excellent."

She frowned. "So they decided I'm worth fightin' – so what?"

"So what?" he raised his eyebrow at her, "I'll have you know that Kakarrot had fought every person on this ship by his tenth cycle here. Didn't anyone explain to you how saiyans _work_? What am I saying, of course they didn't," Turles took off his scouter so he could pinch the bride of his nose, "Look, you've probably heard from many people by this point that I'm insane. Do you know _why_ they say that about me?"

"You… like to blow things up with bombs instead of ki?" Chichi guessed hesitantly.

"Adorable. Completely wrong, but adorable," he folded his arms and leaned against his workbench, watching her. "I am considered insane because I am not only comfortable working with non-saiyans but actively interested in doing so, and always have been. Not a typical point of view for someone raised in the traditional fashion – we're only just beginning to get over being a bunch of speciests towards pretty much the entire universe as well," he chuckled, "That's part of why you were paired with me – General Leke knew I wouldn't have any objections to it."

Chichi frowned. "And the other part?"

He smirked at her. "She knew I could get the rest of the crew to accept you as a member. Which, if they're inviting you to spar, they finally have, meaning I can mark this down as yet another success on a very long list."

"Does this mean you're going to be nicer to me now?" Chichi asked, a little stunned at the implications of all this. She'd figured out the crew was holding her somewhat at arm's length, but she hadn't realized her species was the cause of it.

Turles blinked, then threw back his head and laughed. "But my dear, other than the 'Jewel' thing I _have_ been treating you nicely – I've been treating you like any other soldier placed in my tender care. Like you're saiyan. One of us." Wiping his eyes he chuckled, then gestured for her to join him at the bench. "Come along now, today we're going to learn how to make saiyan tails grow back once they've been cut off… Princess."

OoOoOoOoO

Saiyan tails, Chichi learned, generally grew back on their own, generally when the saiyan was in danger and needed it. However there was also a segment of the spine that, if out of alignment, impeded tail growth or, conversely, stimulated it if pressed with the proper force. Which basically meant Turles had had Chichi punch him in the back, whereupon she had gotten whacked in the stomach when his new tail grew in far faster than she'd expected. He'd then proceeded to mock her while she attempted to beat him to death with his old tail (it didn't matter that her armor had protected her from any damage, it was the principle of the thing) before settling down to get back to work planning the next raid.

OoOoOoOoO

"So, I hear that used to belong to my mate."

Chichi looked up from where she'd been discussing what to do with her 'trophy' with Kakarrot and Crumbar. Nippatu was glaring down at her, arms folded. Resisting the urge to either try and hide the severed tail or bolt for the door, Chichi met the red-skinned woman's eyes. "Yeah, it did." She managed to keep her voice steady, but it was difficult – she'd seen Nippatu sparring a few times. The woman was a vicious warrior, fond of summoning balls of ki around her fists and then punching her opponent with them to inflict extra damage. And she was stronger than Turles. "Thought you'd have seen how he lost it last night, same as everyone else."

"Oh I _know_ how he lost it," Nippatu sneered, "But I was out on a mission, so I couldn't _do_ anything about it." She leaned forward, her tail uncoiling from her waist, lashing behind her, "So, how'd you get rid of _your_ share of the drink? Pour it on the floor?"

"Poured it in my belly, same as he did," Chichi glared.

Nippatu made a rude noise, "As if a sprig like you could handle that much."

"Hey, not my fault if you saiyans can't handle yer drink." Kami, she'd been spending too much time around Turles, back-sassing had become automatic, she was going to die…

"Tough talk," the saiyan woman raised an eyebrow, looked her up and down, and smirked. "Wanna have sex?"

Chichi felt something spray the back of her head and turned around to see Kakarrot sputtering, having apparently been taking an unfortunate drink when Nippatu made her offer. "That'd better have been water, Carrot!"

He ignored her, staring at the other woman for a moment before a light growl started in his chest and he began to stand.

Nippatu waved a hand at him dismissively before Chichi could do anything, "Calm down, brat, I'm not courting her – I'm asking her if she wants to have some fun. You're old enough by your species' standards, right?" she added, shooting Chichi a seductive smirk.

Kakarrot blinked, then frowned in confusion, "What?"

"What about Turles?" Chichi added.

"Oh he can play too if you both like," Nippatu smirked, "Good mates know how to share."

Chichi glanced at Kakarrot, who stared back at her and said, in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, "I'm not sharing."

Chichi snorted. "I wasn't gonna take her up on it, genius," her eyes narrowed as she got a look at this cup and its content, "And that's not water! Dammit, now 'm gonna have to bathe _again_!"

"Aw, are sure about that?" Nippatu let her tail come forward to brush Chichi's cheek. Chichi firmly pushed it away.

"Quite sure. And in any case I'm _also_ still under age by my world's standards."

"Shame," the older woman shrugged, "Suit yourself." Wrapping her tail back around her waist she walked over to where Turles was coming in, leaning on his shoulder to whisper something in his ear. They were both laughing as they walked towards the food dispenser. Kakarrot watched them pensively.

"Think he knows she just offered to have sex with someone else?"

Crumbar glanced where the younger male was looking. "Who, Turles? Probably. Hell, he might have suggested it."

"But- I thought-" Kakarrot looked baffled and Chichi was pretty sure her expression matched is, though she managed to retain her articulation slightly better.

"I thought saiyans mated fer life."

"We do." Crumbar gave her an odd look.

"Then why are they still, I dunno… sniffing?" Chichi asked, using the term she'd heard Kakarrot using when talking about seeking a mate.

The older saiyan shrugged. "They're a kinky pair of freaks. They've taken lovers on before – jointly and separately. Rumour has it that they're looking for a third," he added, voice conspiratorial.

"A third what?" Kakarrot asked.

"You know, a third," Crumbar tapped his shoulders, "A bite for each side?"

"Oh." Kakarrot and Chichi looked at the mates in question, "That's _allowed_?"

"I dunno," Crumbar shrugged again, "Honestly, I don't think they care. So, any idea what you're going to do with the tail?"

Chichi raised an eyebrow, then glanced back at the thing. She didn't think she'd _ever_ understand saiyans' mentality about their tails. On the one hand, they groomed them carefully, protected them in battle, and got hugely offended if the wrong person touched them without permission.

At the same time, if they lost their tail, once the initial state of 'excuse me but that was my _tail,_ you bastard!' they were pretty laid back about it. Sometimes they didn't even have the things grow back immediately and waited for them to do so on their own. It was 'what made you saiyan,' and it was 'just a tail.'

It was really confusing.

OoOoOoOoO

Okay, this is one of the segments that was originally going to be a lot longer, but I never wrote more than this, so here's a quick synopsis:

Chichi is going to spend the next five years of her life living with the Resistance and fighting the Cold Empire, with the occasional visit to Earth. During this time she makes some strong alliances and friendships amongst the saiyans, especially the ones on the ship she lives on, and forms a sort of mentor/student relationship with Turles that involves much backtalk and sass on both sides. During her first year in space she also forcibly unlocks her own hidden potential when a raid goes wrong and her team almost gets captured. While still not a saiyan, this narrows the gap between her and them significantly in terms of strength and increasing her ki becomes a swifter, easier process, narrowing the gap further (and keeping in mind that a healthy five digits is the standard for power levels in this universe, with six digits or more being an extreme rarity. Kakarrot will, of course, break six digits one day and hit super saiyan, but he's a prodigy, and for the most part such strength really isn't necessary). Chichi honestly goes rather native. She is a totally kick-ass space princess.

Chichi and Kakarrot become formal mates after he finishes his second spurt, after three years in space. Gohan (full name Gohan Pasnep in this (Kakarrot and Chichi decided to give him a name from each of his cultures; human name first because Chichi did the hard work)) is born a year later, which surprises everyone to a certain extent because no one realized humans and saiyans were genetically compatible as well as sexually. Chichi horrifies the entire ship by carrying Gohan herself as opposed to putting him in a birthing pod. The whole ship pitches in to raise him, as that's how it's done at this point for saiyans (since they need to repopulate but can't afford to have anyone off active duty long enough to raise brats. So child-rearing has become something of a group effort at this point).

About a year after Gohan Pasnep's birth, the final showdown with the Colds occurs and the Resistance emerges victorious. Kakarrot and Chichi return to Earth to raise Gohan in a slightly quieter environment and also to get married Earth-style, so they are now married and mated. They are joined on Earth by a handful of other saiyans who like the look of the place and miss living on a planet. A small settlement is formed in Diablo Desert, near Fry Pan mountain, and they're keeping mostly to themselves for the moment – Raditz and Geta are teaching them about Earth culture somewhat.

Chichi and Kakarrot keep in touch with their friends and comrades, and have plans to potentially return to space when Gohan's older, but for now Chichi wants him to be able to grow up on his home planet at least long enough to get an education. Whether Gohan stays to pursue life on Earth or follows his parents back to the stars is something that he'll decide for himself when he's older and, in the meantime, his stories about visiting his grandpa's home over the summer are certainly going to stand out in class.

Chichi cuts back a touch on her training, mostly because she wants to spend time with her friends and family and raise her child as well, and that takes time. She does return to her cheongsams, but she continues to wear her saiyan chest plate over top of them, as she's been wearing one for five years and it feels both strange and uncomfortable to go without now.

Not to mention, they really are **very** supportive.

OoOoOoOoO

 _And thus one of my fondest headcanons is realized: that, compared to the rest of the universe, humans have livers of solid steel and our weak drinkers can often keep pace with the general universe's strongest (not that Chichi is a weak drinker, just in general). And I finally get to tell you all, I'm so happy! Also, the saiyans don't necessarily seek out alcohol, they've got some common sense and it's a somewhat restricted substance (after all, technically it is a poison, even here on Earth, just a relatively mild one), but they will happily take it if it's dropped in their laps._

 _While they're working on improving, the saiyans have generations of ethnocentricity and specie-ism in their history, and that doesn't vanish at the drop of a hat. It's a slow process, but one they're working at. To be honest, they've done pretty darn well, considering it hasn't even been twenty years since they started all this. Is Turles's behavior acceptable then? Honestly, it depends – from our perspective? No, this was a pretty jerk way to go about things? From HIS perspective? No, not at all – he's been treating her like he would another saiyan, which, in his eyes, and in the eyes of everyone else on the ship, means he's been treating her as an equal. What's going on is basically a culture clash, one that would slowly resolve and involve change from both sides before it's over._

 _For those thinking Kakarrot's being overly-territorial in response to Nippatu's offer, please remember, in saiyan culture you drive off any other contenders for a potential mate's affections as a show of strength – Chichi did so for him in_ _Orchids_ _. Nippatu and Turles are kinda kinky by saiyan standards, but not so much because they're looking for a third person to join them as much as, well, they're just a kinda kinky couple. Getting 'a bite for each shoulder' isn't hugely common, but it's not exactly a taboo thing. Kakarrot also has a more limited knowledge of his own culture than most people his age – for most of his life he only had what Raditz remembered to go on and now he's playing catch-up._


End file.
